Friday, April 04, 2008

Felted it! crochet hook case

Lately it seems I have started on a number of projects, with patterns needed to be written up...and I don't know what to work on anymore (sigh...) Blame it on the hot weather, I suppose.
So I thought I should make something that is a little more interesting and easier to finish, and no need to write a pattern.
I know I had to try felting, and needed a simple hook case...and with the Caron felt-it that Deneen sent me, the only thing to add was a bit of time and a little imagination. I followed the instructions on the label, and used a 6mm hook. I roughly calculated the no. of stitches with the gauge given...crocheted it vertically in alternating sc and hdc rows.
How I felted it, was just a trial and error process. I didn't want to use a washing machine for something so small. I used a basin, hot water and detergent. I set the basin under the heat of the sun to keep the water hot. I think it felted in about 20 mins. I swirled the item in the basin and pounded on it too. I really didn't know how it should be done(I might have looked mad doing it, LOL!), but after a while it seemed to get thicker and I could hardly see the stitches. So I thought it was good enough. After drying it looked like this:



I'm wondering why it looks more felted in person than in the above photo. Anyway, I thought with a little trimming and a button, it would be a good-looking hook case. With my local acrylic yarn in dark pink color, and using a small hook (size 2mm), I poked the hook through and sc'd along the edge. At the flap, I made a loop for the button.

9 comments:

  1. Very cool-glad it worked out.

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  2. That's really neat, I have never seen that yarn. I don't felt much, though; so I probably just never noticed it... It's a cute little case.

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  3. thats a lovely case of the hooks...

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  4. I love the felted crochet hook so cute. I want to now do me.:) cute:)

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  5. Love the hook case. Felting is my new love!

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  6. That is so cute! I would love to make one of those for my sister, who I'm trying to get into crocheting this year!

    Hey, I was wondering if you'd be interested in having your blog reviewed on my blog, Knits and Knots (http://www.knitsandknots.net). I have been doing weekly blog reviews for a few months now, and I'm looking for a blog to review this week! If you're interested, you can check out my site and then email me at knitsandknots@gmail.com

    Thanks!

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  7. Super cute, Mimi!
    I wonder how big it looked before felting, and the size difference after that process. If you felt again, could you please post both pictures? I have to try this too!

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  8. Thanks everyone for your comments!

    Good question, Vik! I totally forgot to take a before felting photo, since I was so eager to experiment on felting ;)
    But I did get approx. the same gauge as stated in the label:
    Before felting:
    Knitting with 8mm needle - 12 sts and 15 rows = 4"
    Crochet with 6mm hook - 11 sts and 8 rows in hdc = 4"
    After felting:
    Knitting: 16 sts and 29 rows = 4"
    Crochet: 15 sts and 10 rows = 4"

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  9. The hook case looks good. I'm really keen to try felting myself but haven't got any felting type of yarn out here.

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